The Kappa and the Wolf
by Twintix
Summary: A few stories about the shy Kappa and the dutiful Wolf Tengu. I don't think I need to explain it more...  Rated T, just in case. Momiji X Nitori
1. Chapter 1: A peaceful game of Shogi

**The Kappa and the Wolf**

_Yo! Twintix here!_

_This is my second Touhou fanfic, and I decided to write a few short stories about the shy kappa and the wolf tengu, since I figured that everyone needs a good crackpairing sometimes. Even if there surely is NitoMomi floating around across the Internet, I haven't seen anyone write fanfiction about that particular pairing. It seems like I have a thing for underdogs. (Get it? **Dogs**? Momiji? Ahaha-*stabbed*) _

_Horrible and inaccurate puns aside, I hope you enjoy!_

_Oh, and I'm not English, so I might've messed up somewhere..._

**DISCLAIMER: **_Touhou Project and the characters in this fanfiction belong to ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice._

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**First Story:** _A peaceful game of shogi_

-DAMN IT! I lost again! I howled and slammed my fist into the hard mountain side. Not a very good idea, since it sent waves of pain through my hand.

As I struggled to sit up, I brushed my sleeves from dust and thoughtfully bit my own finger. My clothes were dirty, all the bruises I had gained stang, and I noticed that I was bleeding from a wound on my left cheek. I thought about _her,_ and furiously bit my finger even harder, causing it to bleed, as well.

- Next time..., I mumbled. Next time, I'm gonna beat her for sure!

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I had been in a fight again. With her, of course. That cocky, arrogant crow who thinks she's better than everyone else and that insists on coming to me only to criticize my hard work. At least I have some spell cards to fend her of with, but she just keeps winning over me! Every single time!

Hmph! That's only because she's a coward. She uses her speed to her advantage instead of taking me on, fair and square! And what does she say after she's beaten me? Every time she has defeated me?

- In battle, everything's allowed, you sore loser. Get that in your thick skull, Momiji, and you just might be successful in your job.

Arrogant, arrogant bitch! She always insults me, always treats me like I'm no good!

I'm not gonna lie: I hate her, I really, really do. I simply can't see why Lord Tenma has taken such a liking to her. There's _nothing_ about her that's likeable. I'd never tell the Lord about this, of course. The last thing I'd like to happen to me would be getting a bust from my patrol job.

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I signed off for the day at our headquarters and slowly wandered down the mountain. It's unbelievable how quickly a day can pass: It was a wonderful cool summer evening, and the sunset made Gensokyo look extraordinarily beautiful. Not that I gave that too much thought: I was still thinking, and I was still mad. But I had calmed down a little and I felt more relaxed, since my work shift was over. Now, I could look forward to something much nicer. I even managed to smile as I made my way down the steep mountain slope towards the river.

- Momiji! Over here!

As I thought: There she was, sitting on a cliff right next to the river, smiling and waving at me. The orange glow from the sunset made her look extremely pretty. (If you wonder how I could see that from the slope, you've forgotten about my ability to see great distances)

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Nitori. Probably the kindest girl I have ever met in my entire life, and my best friend in the world. She's always so calm and warm towards me. She's almost always smiling, and rarely ever seen upset. I'm not sure why, but every time I see her, my heart flutters. I really wonder what that's all about...If only she wasn't so shy, she'd be surrounded with friends all the time. Oh well, more of her to keep for myself, then. Hehehe...

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I waved back and started skipping down the slope. A great thing about being a tengu is having fantastic balance, so I didn't fall. When I got down, I walked up to her, dropped my sword and shield and sat down in front of her.

- Hi, Nitori! I greeted her.

- Good evening, Momiji, Nitori giggled. So you're off duty now?

I nodded and smiled at her. She smiled back, but as she examined my face, she looked a little concerned.

- You're bleeding again! She exclaimed. And you're full of bruises! Have you been in a fight with Aya today again?

I blushed, looking a little guilty, and scratched the back of my head.

- Well...yes, I mumbled as my facial expression changed from guilt to annoyance. But she always insults me! I don't understand why she bothers coming around if all she's going to do is badmouth me!

- You need to be less aggressive, Nitori stated. Maybe she keeps coming back because she likes that you get angry and provokes you to satisfy herself.

This comment made it feel like someone dropped a boulder over my head, mainly because I knew that she was right. Frustrated, I pulled my hair and swore inside of my mind.

Apparently I looked funny, since Nitori started to laugh. Normally, I dislike it when people laugh at me, but if I make her happy, it doesn't feel so bad.

- Now now, let's not be like that, Momiji, she chuckled. You've worked hard today, so let's relax with a game of shogi!

As she said this, she picked out a shogi board out of her backpack. When I saw her do that, I shone up and wagged my tail. Shogi happens to be my favorite pasttime.

- Yes! I've been waiting for this the entire day! I exclaimed enthusiastically and klutched my fists. Beware, Nitori, because I'm thirsty for victory, and I'm going to win today!

- We'll see about that! Nitori grinned and confidently adjusted her cap. Compared to me, you've not won too many rounds, have you?

- Watch it! I laughed. I'm on fire today!

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A few turns later, I had proven myself to be correct: It seemed like it went better for me than it ever had before. I had captured six of Nitori's nine pawns, one of her knights, one of her silver generals and one of her gold generals. I was closing in on her last silver general and I gave her a confident grin.

- I told you I'd win today! I chuckled and crossed my arms over my chest.

Nitori looked like she was thinking hard. She nodded thoughtfully and sighed.

- Why, you've become much better than last time, she said. Are you practicing in secret?

- Are you gonna make your move soon? Your time is running out.

We don't do timed games in our shogi games, but I couldn't help but tease her, since I was so confident in my victory. Nitori looked at the board.

- Soon, she mumbled. Hang on, I'd like to get a better view of this...I need to survey this from...above...

She slowly bent her head over the shogi board. At first, I didn't notice that she bent more and more over the board. When I finally noticed, she almost had her entire upper body over on my side. Seeing how close she was to me, I freaked out.

- Ah, wait! What are you...,I exclaimed, blushing like crazy.

- Surveying..., Nitori whispered, getting her head closer and closer to mine.

- Surveying wha-, I started.

Before I could say anything else, she placed a hand on the back of my head and kissed my forehead. Not being able to make a sound, I blushed harder and harder. My heart was racing as her soft lips moved down my face. Over my nose, closer and closer to my mouth...

Suddenly, she stopped. Her lips left my face and she smirked.

- _ō__te_~, she whispered.

When I realised what she meant by that, I snapped out of my confused condition and quickly got up as Nitori sat on her side of the board again. I saw a small arm behind her back before it disappeared into her backpack. When I looked at the board, I almost groaned in agony.

While she had come so close to me, she had moved her bishop so that it was perfectly lined up with my king, meaning that I had no choice but to move my king piece. But if I moved my king to the left side, it would line up with her rook, and if I moved it to my right side, it would line up with her knight. It was a dead end.

- Are you going to make your move soon? Nitori giggled. Your time is running out.

I stared at the board, being filled with frustration once again. There was no way out: I had lost.

- N-nnn...NO FAIR! I yelled, waving my arms in a frustrated manner. You...you just did that thing to distract me!

- You only have yourself to blame. If you hadn't been so focused on your "victory", you would've noticed, Nitori replied with a polite smile. Sorry about that, but it's just so amusing to tease you.

I looked away, still blushing. Once again, she was right.

- But, Momiji, Nitori continued as she stuffed the shogi board back in her backpack, you actually _have_ become much better. Honestly, I thought that you were going to win for a while.

I looked surprised as I scratched my cheek.

- ...Thanks! I replied.

- Same time tomorrow? Nitori asked as she stood up.

- You bet! I grinned. After my shift tomorrow, I'm going to win for sure!

- We'll see, Nitori smiled. For now, go home and sleep. And wash your clothes! They're all dusty!

- Yes, Mom~, I laughed. Good night, Nitori!

- Good night, Momiji, she replied as she jumped into the river and swam away.

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As I made my way home over the mountain, I thought about the day: The ordinary day with no intruders, the fight with the crow, meeting Nitori and...

When I thought about the incident again, my heart started beating again. Every time I met her, it started. Really, why did it always do that? Oh well, I didn't mind it anyway. At least she made my days fun instead of reminding me of my losses to the crow...

- That sure was a cunning way of tricking me, I mumbled. Kappa are not to be underestimated.

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_Aaaand that's the end of the first story. I hope you liked it. _

_The next one is going to be from Nitori's perspective. I'm going to alter them like that, so the next one is Nitori, the one after that is Momiji again etc._

_Thank you for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2: Awkward Morning Meeting

**The Kappa and the Wolf**

_Hello! Twix here!_

_Here's chapter 2, and this time, it's from Nitori's perspective. This one took a little bit of planning on my part, since I don't want to make anything too cheesy, repetitive or cliché for these stories, (although something might turn out to be like that anyway...3) even if I want to show their feelings for each other evolve smoothly at the same time. Also, I don't know if kappas eat fish, (According to folklore, kappas sometimes eat humans' livers, but I can't picture Nitori as one of them) but I'm going to assume that Nitori's diet is about the same as a human's diet, only with less meat and more cucumbers. But that's the wonderful thing about open interpretaion, right? :)_

_And I honestly couldn't come up with a better title for this chapter... Also, I'm still not English, so I've probably messed up somewhere._

_Special thanks to Omegahugger for the reviews and tips!_

_Without further ado, here's chapter 2. It takes place some time after the first story and not the day after, just to be clear. _

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**Second Story: Awkward Morning Meeting**

The silent, peaceful song from the earliest birds reached my ears and soothingly reminded me that I was awake, even if my eyes were closed: I couldn't have asked for a better way to start a new day. A sun ray had snuck through my window and tickled my eyelid, leaving me no choice but to open my eyes. As I started to come to life again, though still half- asleep, I slowly crawled out of my bed and stretched a little. I felt surprisingly numb this morning. I must've slept in an awkward position...

Anyway, I fixed my hair and got dressed as I slowly got more and more awake. When I was finally done mith my morning routine of checking my inventions and light morning gymnastics, I went outside. I stretched, took a deep breath and enjoyed the refreshing air. Aaaah, how I looked forward to what the world had to offer me today...

Of course, the moment was ruined by my stomach rumbling. I needed a reminder of why I really had gone outside, how embarrassing!

"Ehrm, I should probably get going..." I said to myself, blushing. (Even though there was no need to do so) "I've got breakfast to prepare..."

I closed the door and set course for the river. Carrying my fishing rod with me, I happily hummed a melody. Today, I was hoping that I would catch a salmon. They taste so great with salt and pickled cucumbers!

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I love mornings. It feels like they are a symbol of possibilities: Anything can happen during the day, and even if you don't know what's coming, the best you can do is to look forward to something good! I especially enjoy early mornings. The feeling that it's early in the day and that you've got a lot of things to expect; That special light golden color from the morning sun makes it look like Gensokyo is shining, and when I'm walking through the forest, I can also hear things that I usually can't hear when the noisy fairies and the like are awake, like the frogs ribbiting or the small forest mice running over the trees' roots. Wonderful!

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I slowly sat down at the river and threw my fishing line in the calm water. As I sat there, waiting for the fish, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the few sounds of the forest. The flowing river, the birds' quiet song, the rustles from the leaves...

An unexpected, sudden cracking noise startled me and made my feet splash into the water, startling a fish that was just about to bite. I watched it swim away in dismay.

"Dang it!" I exclaimed. "And I was just about to catch it! Oh well... At least it wasn't a salmon. I would've been very unhappy if it had been one."

The cracking noise made me jump again and I looked around, trying to determine where it came from. After listening to it for a while, as it turned from cracking to yelling and chopping, I got curious about what could be disturbing my morning peace. It almost sounded like a struggle or something. I stood up, activated my optical camouflage and went in the direction where I heard the ruckus.

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After a while, I got to a small grove. The noises came from there. I hid behind a bush and peeked out behind the leaves. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised about what I saw.

There she was, dressed in only a sarashi, a knee- height black skirt and her tengu sandals, alternating between swinging her big sword and throwing punches at a bunch of scarecrow-like dolls that she had put up in the grove. It seemed like she was training, and sweat was dripping from her face.

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Momiji. Strong and friendly, if a bit aggressive. Some people tend to not see her good sides because of her attitude at her job. But she's just dutiful, that's all. She's a great friend, nontheless, and an excellent shogi player. Not as good as me though, if I do say so myself...

I have to say, I haven't played shogi with a lot of people, but out of those people I have played with, I always feel like I'm having more fun playing with Momiji than with anyone else. I always feel so happy when I'm with her, but it's an odd kind of happiness that I really don't understand. It makes me feel all tingly and excited...

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Don't get me wrong, I knew that she had her morning training everyday. (She has told me so herself) What surprised me was the location: I had never seen her train down here before. Usually, she trained up on the mountain.

Not that I minded this new location of hers. Now, I could get a good look of her. I never could during the day: Her clothes were wide and covered a lot of her body.

She looked more feminine than I thought, in contrast to her personality. Her arms were slim, but muscular, probably due to her wielding that huge sword and the shield. The same went with her back, and her legs... Such muscles! Her strong hands had a firm grip around the sword...

I suddenly slapped my hands over my mouth, blushing.

"_Oh god! What am I doing, spying on her like this? How rude of me!_"Ithought, almost starting to panic. "_I better get out of here, before..._"

I didn't finish my thoughts, because I saw the coming danger. Momiji had just attacked a doll, but the recoil that the strike caused made it bend forward and hit her in the face. The impact made her fly backwards. Unfortunately, towards the bush where I was hiding. It happened so fast that I couldn't dodge it in time.

"Uwaa!"

Momiji's foot landed right in my face, which made me fall backwards and deactivated my camouflage.

"Yeouch!" I yelled, placing my hands over my face.

"Oh my god! Nitori!"

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"Nitori, what are you doing here this early in the morning?" Momiji asked, bending over me with a curious look on her face.

"That's _my_ line!" I mumbled, rubbing my face. Her foot had hit me right between the eyes, and it hurt a lot. Momiji shrugged and playfully swung her tail from side to side.

"Can't you tell? I'm training."

"I can see that!" I groaned. "But why are you training _here_? Don't you usually do it on the mountain?"

"A change of scenery is nice every now and then, you know..." Momiji replied as she let her sword rest on her shoulder and scratched her ear. "Sorry about hitting you. But answer me now: What are you doing here? Were you spying on me?"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Uh...I was...Looking for bait. I'm fishing, you see?" I said, pointing to my fishing rod.

Momiji frowned in doubt.

"Alright, but do you really need camouflage to look for bait?"

She got me there. I had no good answer to that, and an awkward silence occured. I felt that weird happiness again. Why did it occure now?

Finally, Momiji started to snicker.

"Your face is as red as a cherry! What's up with that?"

It felt like my face was on fire and that my heart was about to burst through my chest.

"T-the same goes for you! You're blushing, too!" I blurted out.

Momiji scratched her cheek, as she always did when she was a bit embarassed.

"Well...It _is_ a kinda weird situation..." She mumbled, seeming to be at loss for words.

Fortunately, though, she seemed to snap out of it after a while, and she turned around.

"Anyway, I need to keep training, and you have a fish to catch." She grinned towards me. "So, shogi this evening?"

I replied to her grin with a smile. It was about time for me to snap out of my embarassment, too.

"Of course! Since you just can't seem to get enough of losing..." I laughed.

"Hey! I'll make you eat those words tonight!" Momiji replied. "See ya later, Nitori!"

"Yeah! Later!" I replied and watched her as she ran off into the forest. She probably had an obstacle course further in or something...

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I made it back towards the lake, still feeling the weird sensation I always felt when being with her. It occupied my mind, and I couldn't concentrate enough on fishing, making the desired salmon being replaced with a few fat trouts instead. Feeling a little bit disappointed, but somehow satisfied at the same time, I went back to my house and had breakfast.

It was delicious either way, so it's a shame to complain about the fish. Better luck next time. Hopefully, it applies to both the fishing and her...

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_And that's chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed it._

_On a Touhou- realted note: Who's excited about Ten Desires? I am! I wonder what new characters ZUN has created! (If he has created new ones, of course...)_


	3. Chapter 3: Drinking after Work

_Okay, I'm back._

_Sorry that I haven't updated this story in ages, but the reason for that is a combination of being busy at school, suffering from a MAJOR Writer's Block (and an Artist Block while I was at it... :( ) and being distracted by weird Garry's Mod- videos..._

_But I think I'm on to something now, so here's chapter 3!_

_I took a little bit of liberty here, since I'm not sure how party- loving the goddesses are. In my defense, though, I can say that we haven't seen enough of them in canon yet, so it's open for speculation._

_...Why am I explaining myself? This is fanfiction!_

_Oh, and I hid a video game reference in here somewhere. Find it, and earn a virtual cupcake._

**DISCLAIMER:** Touhou Project + Characters belong to ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice

**Third Story: Drinking After Work**

"Inubashiri! You can take a break now! But we expect you to be on duty again in 15 minutes!""

"Oh! Thank you!"

I sat down on a cliff near the waterfall and took a breath of relief. It was finally break time! The timing was perfect, too: I was starving, and it feels good to let your feet rest after several hours of patroling.

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It was a warm August day. Surprisingly warm, actually, considering that fall was on its way.

But aside from the heat, nothing special had occured. Just the occasional fairies playing on the mountain and the nekomata wandering around, probably plotting to go down to the village and cause trouble or something.

Youkai Mountain rarely gets any intruders; It's too dangerous. It kinda sucks for those goddesses higher up. They get no visitors, since this place in infested with youkai. (Most of the humans are chased off as intruders, anyway, and the ones at the foot of the mountain are too youkai- like) But their shrine maiden often visits the Human Village to gather faith, so I guess they're okay anyway. Besides, they're nice people, so I don't really mind them. Lord Tenma apparently doesn't, either, since they get to stay here.

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I sat on the cliff and listened to the sound of the waterfall (I love listening to it; It's one of the reasons that I love my job) while having my usual pork- filled rice balls. But, unusually, I had managed to bring some red tea, too. I rarely get the luxury of having tea during work, but I just had to try it out in this odd thing I'd recieved.

Nitori had given me an odd little metal container that could preserve heat as a trophy for beating her in shogi a few days before. (After reminding me that the total results in our shogi games were 4 356 to 1 521 in her favor, my victory felt abysmal and not as sweet) She told me that it was inspired by an invention in the Outside World, and that it was great for keeping hot drinks hot. And how right she was! I took a sip of the tea, and it was just as warm as it had been in the morning, when I prepared it.

How relaxing! Listening to the waterfall while having rice balls and tea...

"Ara, ara. It's, like, the flavour of love!"

A sudden voice behind me made me jump up and spit out my tea in shock. As I wiped my mouth, I turned around to face who interrupted me during lunch break. I was almost snarling, to tell you the truth.

"Gha! Who the-"

But when I saw who it was, I calmed down.

"Oh, it's just you, Hatate." I sighed. "At first, I thought it was Aya."

"Don't compare me to her!" Hatate snickered while sitting down next to me. "My methods of gathering material are, like, not as pushy. Besides, she would've said something more sarcastic."

I nodded thoughtfully. I couldn't argue with that.

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Hatate. Out of the tengu, she's the most talkactive one, and the one I prefer to hang out with. She's a bit odd, and her way of speaking can be a bit annoying, but I can overlook that since I like to talk to her. All in all, she's not a bad person. Unlike that other stuck- up crow. Grrrr!

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"Anyway, why did you say that?" I asked her while pouring a cup of tea for her. "**Flavour of love?** That's so cheesy!"

"Maybe, but doesn't it sound romantic?" The crow replied while taking a sip of the hot drink. "You got that container from that kappa, right? And you hang out with her, like, everyday. (Wow, this tea tastes great!) If I didn't know that you were playing games everyday, I would've thought that you were dating."

I nearly choked on my rice ball. She's such a straightforward person, not even hesitating to say things like that! And she gets ideas easily! Just where did she get _that_ from?

"Don't be ridiculous!" I coughed. A grain of rice had stuck to my uvula. "Nitori and I are good friends, that's all."

"Then why are you blushing like that?" Hatate asked. "You look really flustered."

"I do?"

"Yes! Your face looks like a mythical tengu's, almost. The only thing missing is, like, the long nose."

Why was I blushing? I had no idea. But I felt a small tingling sensation in my chest. Again. Like it always did when I thought of Nitori. Honestly, what was it all about?

However, it was not the time to think about that. Hatate must've realized it, too, since she changed subject.

"Oh well, let's leave it at that." She said. "So, anyway, patroling seems, like, so boring! No one shows up! Ever! I don't understand how you can manage it!"

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. That just came out of the blue!

"...Well, it _can_ be kinda slow," I admitted, " and most of the time I just wander back and forth..."

"Sounds exciting." Hatate mumbled while tapping something in on her camera.

"It's my job." I said and shrugged. "I do what I'm told. I don't even get paid very much."

I turned my head and looked over Gensokyo. The lush green trees in the valley looked like bushes from where I sat.

"However," I continued, "Up here, you get the best view of Gensokyo in any season. Be it winter, be it summer, I can see the beauty of every season the best from up here. And the roaring waterfall is so beautiful. Listening to it makes it worth the slow days. All in all, the view and the sounds makes this the best job ever."

I turned back to Hatate with a smile.

"Isn't that reason enough?"

Hatate grinned back at me.

"Well, aren't you poetic?" She laughed.

"At least I don't spout out cheesy nonsense." I replied.

"(That wasn't cheesy to you?) Right, right. But I totally get your point!" She continued and emptied her cup. "You really get the best view from here. Though you can see great distances, so it's probably easier for you. But I prefer to fly around and gather information, anyway. I didn't do it before, but I've learned that you get the best news from exploring Gensokyo. I was, like, a total shut- in for a while."

"_Does anyone even __**read**__ her newspaper?_" I thought while finishing my last rice ball.

Hatate's ability is Spirit Photography, so it's understandable that she didn't go out much. But after observing Aya after reading Bunbunmaru News, she's gone out more to collect data.

"Anyway, you didn't just come here to chat." I noted. "Did you want to ask me something?"

Hatate jumped up from her seat and smacked her fist in her palm.

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot! I was wondering if you'd like to have a drink after our shift today."

Hearing this, my ears twitched a little. I hadn't gone out drinking for quite some time, so this offer was too nice to pass up on.

"Yeah, sure! I'll just play a round of shogi first. I could ask Nitori if she wants to join us."

"You do that." Hatate snickered. "Maybe it'll be your first official date."  
"Argh! I told you, we're not dating!" I growled and threw a punch at the tengu who quickly jumped out of the way.

"No need to be violent, Momiji." She laughed. "I was totally joking!"

"Inubashiri! Your break is over! Get back to work!"

"Ah- Of course!" I exclaimed, quickly putting away the container and picking up my sword. Hatate sighed and shook her head.

"Dutiful as ever. Just don't work yourself half to death."

"I've got lunch breaks. That's good enough for me." I said and waved her off. "Anyway, you've been bothering me for long enough now. Save a little for tonight. Now, shoo!"

"Yeah, yeah." Hatate replied and shrugged. "See you later!"

I watched her fly off before I got back to patroling. That Hatate, always teasing me. Oh well. At least I don't mind her bothering me.

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7 hours (a humiliating defeat in shogi and some persuation) later, Nitori and I made our way up the mountain. Remembering that I hadn't actually asked Hatate _where_ the drinking would take place (Our party locations vary from time to time, so we're rarely in the same spot twice in a row), I nervously hoped that she would be waiting for us by the waterfall.

Of course, she didn't. How inconvenient...

We spent a good 15 minutes looking for her all around the mountain until a fellow tengu (Who apparently had been sent out to get us) found us and told us that our drinking party would take place at the Moriya Shrine.

Feeling a bit sour over that Hatate hadn't told me the location and that I had been stupid enough not to ask her, we finally made it to the shrine. The party had already started when we got there, and even the goddesses had joined in.

Their shrine maiden didn't look too amused about this party. Understandable, since this might've been a bit spontaneous.

Sitting in front of a small table, Hatate waved at us to come and sit down.

"You're late!" She called. "We've already started."

"I can tell." I replied. "To be fair, you never told me where we would be."

"You didn't ask." The crow grinned and shrugged. "Oh well, you're here now, so let's get boozing!"

"Just don't get completely wasted." I remarked. "We have work in the morning."  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. The same goes for you."

As she handed me a cup of sake, Nitori pulled my sleeve.

"Momiji, just thought I'd let you know that Aya's here, too." She whispered and glanced at the crow at another table.

Now, we generally have parties together like this, so her showing up was no big surprise, but seeing her still got my blood boiling slightly. I see that cocky bitch enough during work, and now I have to drink in her presence?

Nitori must've felt this, since before I could open my mouth, she continued:  
"We're here to have fun, not to fight, so can you please try not to get into a fight with her? Just ignore her for tonight, please?"

"Ah...Right. Sorry about that." I mumbled.

She was right. I wouldn't let Aya destroy my evening!

"Cheers!" We said, performed a toast and started drinking.

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I'm not quite sure what happened during that time, perhaps I was too caught up in the mood to think about it, (Maybe it was a pure tengu "party instinct"; We're second only to oni when it comes to drinking) but something made me repeatedly empty cup after cup of sake. Before I knew it, I was completely drunk. Quite ironic, since I had warned Hatate not to drink too much.

While we snacked on some dried fish, nuts and various other snacks, we chatted with each other and overall had a pretty good time.

"B...But I...I don't understand why *hic* we have to stand guard wh-when noone's intruding e-anyway." I mumbled and flailed my left hand around. "This place is too dangerous f- for humans, so they never come here."

"Ha! I know!" Hatate laughed. "Cheers to that speech!"

"Cheers? HOURRAH!" Nitori cheered and giggled. She gets a completely different persona when she's drunk.

"Meh! Pfft!" I spat, my tounge feeling as limp as a piece of cloth. "Ju-just drinking is no f-fun. H-how about a drinking game?"

"Hm? Sure." Hatate replied. "So, what did you have in mind?"

"Shogi!" I practically shouted. "E-every time you lose, you take a drink!"

"Alright! S-sounds good!" Nitori mumbled. "I can b-be your first o-opponent."

"Okay! It's on!" I exclaimed and slammed my hand in the table.

Nitori nodded, pulled out the shogi game from her backpack and the ame started. At first, it worked out fine; We had played it so many times that we could practically do it blindfolded. After a while, however, because of our drunkened state, the game slowly got out of hand.

"Ha! Your bishop is mine!" Nitori mumbled and grabbed my bishop piece.

"Heeey, you cheater! My bishop was to the side of your rook! The rook can't move diagonally!" I protested.

"Hm? That was the rook? D- didn't notice."

"Give it back."

"No way. A captured piece is a captured piece. *hic*"  
"Oh, you're still willing to cheat? Okay then, my knight takes your silver general!"  
"What the- Hey, the knight is not supposed to move that far!"

Hatate sat on the side, watching us. She had a hard time trying not to burst out in laughter.

"Alright! Then my lance rams into three of your pawns!" Nitori continued, pushing her lance piece forward into my pawns so that they flew in every direction.

"Then I counter with the Holy Sake Cup!" I yelled and slammed a filled sake cup in the middle of the shogi board. (Whose it was, I have no idea) "Your pawns on that spot are dead!"

"Alright! Free drink for the Kappa God!" Nitori happily declared, grabbed the sake cup and emptied it in one gulp.

"Now I'm revitalized!" She proceeded and pushed my king piece of the board into my lap. "I cast Holy Punishment on your king! I win!"

"Huh? Now you- Then the River of Sake comes and drowns your kingdom in a delightful way. Everyone dies! No one wins!" I proclaimed, took another sake cup and poured the liquid onto the shogi board. The entire table got soaked with sake, and the smell would probably last for a while.

"Well, that was, like, completely uneccessary..." Hatate snickered, her body shaking from trying to keep her composure.

"Hm...I guess." I noted. "That delicious sake went to waste."

"...Not really what I was thinking, but whatever works for you."

"Hey...What...What are you up to?"

I suddenly heard a voice behind me and turned around. There stood Aya, as wasted as the rest of us.

"Sh-shogi?" She asked.

"What does it look like? Of course it's shogi!" I snapped at her.

"Hm...Sounds fun. How about a game?" She suddenly grinned and pointed at the shogi board.

Great! She wanted to challenge me at shogi. What an idiot... I felt confident, since I had played with Nitori more times than I could count. I hate Aya and I wanted her to leave, but it's because I hate her that I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to get her good.

"Hm, hm. Bring it, crow!" I said and gestured her to sit down. "I'll beat you to Mayohiga and back!"

"That's what you think, you mutt!" Aya hissed. "I'll beat you at this, just like at everything else!"

"Oh, you're asking for it now! I growled. "Alright then, I'll be a good sport. You go first!"  
"What a priviledge. Hm, this table really stinks, and it's wet..."

..

..

..

Game after game of shogi was played between us. Since both of us were drunk, we made our fair share of slip- ups, and we were pretty even. Just as in my game against Nitori, the games started out fine, but after a while, we were so annoyed with each other that the cheating commenced.

"Knight to gold general!" I declared.  
"It's not supposed to go in that direction! Okay, then I'll use my rook to get your pawn!"  
"What? The rook can't go diagonally backwards! And you took _two_ pawns from me just now!"

In the end, we just started to throw the shogi pieces at each other, like a bunch of kids. Hatate couldn't keep herself together anymore; She was rolling on the ground, laughing so hard that she could barely breathe.

"That's it!" Aya exclaimed and slammed her fist in the table. "You've been bugging me the entire evening, Inubashiri. I've had enough."  
She stood up and pulled out a Spell Card.

"Let's settle this! Wind God 「 Storm Day」"

"I knew it would come down to this!" I yelled and jumped up. "Dog Sign 「 Rabies Bite」"

"Ooooh, danmaku! I want to join too!" Nitori cheerfully chimed in and pulled out a Spell Card. "Kappa 「 Dried Shirikodama」"  
"Noooooo! Gross~!"

Soon, the air was filled with danmaku from the three of us. It went on for a few minutes before a roaring voice interrupted us.

"Hey! The three of you! That's enough!"  
We turned around. The taller of the goddesses stood up and stared at us. She looked extremely cross about our fight.

"This is a _**shrine**_, not a battlefield! If you want to fight, go somewhere else before I _throw_ you out!"

We landed on the ground, and I waved my hand.

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down, miss. We just...just..."  
I felt extremely tired for whatever reason, and suddenly I fell over our table...and fell asleep.

..

..

..

When I woke up, I was at my house: Someone must've carried me there. I got out of bed with a terrible headache – and realised that I was late for work. I didn't even have time to eat breakfast...or prepare lunch.

Note to self: Never drink before work again.

Hm? If I remembered the events of the party? Of course not. Hatate, who was the only one of us who hadn't let herself get completely wasted, filled me in on the details later. I had a hard time looking anyone in the eyes for the rest of that day...

_And that's chapter three._

_Yeah, not much lovey- dovey action this time. I had too much fun with the shogi scenes. Welp, sorry it took so long to get out, but now it is. Please leave a comment and give me some criticism._

_EDIT: Also, the editing system confuses me slightly. For whatever reason.  
_


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